Chu Chuyan’s fair face tinged with red, and she began fidgeting awkwardly. 

Zu An was momentarily speechless.

Don’t you feel embarrassed, asking about such a thing? You’re a woman!

“What do you mean, I wasn’t ‘abled’? I’ve always been ‘able’, all right?!” roared Zu An furiously.

“Heh!”

His remark was met with a roll of the eyes from Qiao Xueying. Please! Those of us here know the truth better than anyone else!

Chu Chuyan eventually spoke up. “Divine Physician Ji examined his condition and prescribed some medicine to cure him. The main ingredient was the Evanescent Lotus.”

“You mean the legendary Evanescent Lotus, that can raise a cultivator’s cultivation by a step for each flower petal consumed?” Qiao Xueying was shocked. “He gave that to you?”

As a cultivator, she knew better than anyone else how difficult it was to raise one’s cultivation even by a step, especially when one reached the later stages. A single flower petal could replace years of hard work that one would need in order to make a breakthrough. If a high-level cultivator were to consume it, it could easily offset decades or even centuries of hard work! That was just how precious a treasure the Evanescent Lotus was!

Chu Chuyan nodded in response, favoring Zu An with a soft and gentle look.

“Rumor has it that the Evanescent Lotus has nine flower petals. How many of them did he give to you?” asked Qiao Xueying. 

Now that she thought about it, she did recall hearing about the Evanescent Lotus from Zhang Han. Unfortunately, she had been too affected by Shi Kun’s betrayal and the despairing plight she’d been in that she had instinctively ignored everything that was going on around her.

“He… gave them all to me.” Her voice grew quieter and quieter as she recalled how Zu An had fed her the flower petals mouth-to-mouth.

Qiao Xueying glanced at Zu An with a complicated look in her eyes. “You really went all out to win Miss Chu over,” she remarked.

She had entered the underground palace together with them, but she’d ended up using up her most precious treasure—Half Life’s Fate—and lost half of her lifespan, whereas Chu Chuyan had obtained the Evanescent Lotus and raised her cultivation almost by a full rank.

What’s with this huge contrast? Why is my life so tough…?

Sensing Qiao Xueying’s downcast mood, Zu An remarked, “Don’t think it unfair. I gave up a lot for you as well.” 

I used up tens of thousands of Rage points, and that’s not including the losses I made from the ‘draw nothing at all for three rounds’ debuff! If not for that, I might have gotten something powerful or cool!

Qiao Xueying felt her displeasure deepen as she wondered what Zu An had given up for her. All of a sudden, though, she remembered the mysterious medicine he’d conjured out of nowhere which had saved her life. 

Even though he hadn’t explained it explicitly to her, she knew that the more valuable something was in this world, the harder it would be to obtain it. Without a doubt, he had paid a hefty price to obtain such potent medicine.

Her memories were a little vague at the moment, but she had the impression that she’d been facing an incredibly terrifying opponent when Zu An rushed in front of her to protect her.

These thoughts softened her expression again.

However, when her eyes swept across Chu Chuyan, the expression on her face grew gloomy. 

Unfortunately, it’s already too late. The two of them are already a pair. What a twist of fate this is. If only the two of them hadn’t consummated their marriage earlier… 

A thought suddenly flashed across Qiao Xueying’s mind. “Wait a moment,” she said, “Miss Chu was the one who ate the Evanescent Lotus, right? How did you manage to recover, then?”

This fellow couldn’t do it when he was with me, so how could he perform when he was with Miss Chu?

“I met with another fortuitous encounter in the seals, and managed to release my own seal,” replied Zu An, keeping it vague. “All right, let’s not talk about this anymore. Isn’t it embarrassing for a young lady like you to talk about such matters?”

Qiao Xueying turned her head away. All this was indeed making her feel slightly embarrassed. However, doubts still lingered in her mind. I entered the seals with him too, but I don’t recall him stumbling upon any fortuitous encounter… 

As for Chu Chuyan, even though she was officially his wife, their relationship was still rather awkward at the moment, not to mention that they had just done… that thing… earlier on. There was no way she could bring herself to probe further about this matter.

The three of them marched along, brooding over their own thoughts. Chu Chuyan was still on guard, worried that more zombie soldiers would pop up on their way out. Surprisingly, though, the zombie soldiers were making sure to steer clear of her.

Chu Chuyan was perplexed. “Are they going into hiding in advance because they know that they’re no match for me? That shouldn’t be possible, though. They shouldn’t be smart enough to make such a call.” 

Just as the thought crossed her mind, Zu An asked, “Snow, what do you intend to do from now on?”

Qiao Xueying shook her head and replied with a deep sigh, “I don’t know either.”

“Since you’ve seen Shi Kun’s true colors, you should return with us to the Chu clan. We’ll welcome you back,” said Chu Chuyan.

Zu An nodded in agreement. “Indeed. You’re betrothed to me after all, so it doesn’t make sense for you to stay anywhere else. We’ve already warmed up to each other anyway; I trust that you wouldn’t have any problems with warming my bed in the future as well.”

Qiao Xueying and Chu Chuyan both missed a step.

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 250 Rage points!

You have successfully trolled Chu Chuyan for 250 Rage points!

This fellow… Was he kicked in the head by a donkey or something?

Qiao Xueying ignored him and turned to Chu Chuyan, saying, “Thank you for your offer, Miss Chu. I appreciate your goodwill, but now that I’ve severed my relations with the Shi clan there are many things I have to clean up.”

“Do you need my help?” Chu Chuyan was well aware that powerful clans relied on many unsavory measures to keep their subordinates in check, such as using their kin as hostages.

Qiao Xueying shook her head and replied, “It’s all right. I can handle it myself.”

Chu Chuyan sighed deeply. “When did the two of us grow apart?” she said.

Qiao Xueying remembered how the two of them had nibbled on melon seeds while reading romance novels together over the years, and the memories suddenly left her in a wistful mood. Her heart was overwhelmed by a great wave of emotion, and she suddenly found herself with so many words she wanted to say. Yet, the only words that eventually came out of her mouth were, “I’m sorry.”

“There are far too many things in life that are beyond our control. I don’t blame you for that, Snow,” replied Chu Chuyan gently.

The two of them fell silent afterward.

Zu An wasn’t too sure what was wrong with their relationship, but he felt that they were making a big fuss out of nothing. 

Didn’t we get along fine all this while? Why are they suddenly acting like characters in a melancholic soap opera? Y’know, they always say that any arguments can be easily solved in bed at night.

Of course, considering the disparity in their cultivations at the moment, Zu An wisely chose to hold his tongue, out of consideration of his own safety. 

All of a sudden, the cavern around them began to shudder, and silt and rock fragments fell from above. The last time such a tremor occurred was when the two hundred thousand evil spirits had rushed out from their seal, but this tremor was even stronger than that one.

The zombie soldiers lurking around them immediately darted about fearfully like panicking flies.

“The underground cavern is going to collapse! We need to hurry!” shouted Chu Chuyan in agitation. She could feel the elemental ki around them falling into disarray, a sign that the place was going to collapse inward.

Zu An supposed that it could be due to the undoing of the Soul Suppression Seal, as well as the disappearance of the Evanescent Lotus, the Tai’e Sword, Zhang Han, and the vast number of evil spirits. All of this had caused the balance in the underground cavern—a balance that had been delicately sustained over the past several thousand years—to suddenly shatter, resulting in a massive instability.

“What a pity!” remarked Zu An as he threw a regretful glance over his shoulder. He’d been harboring thoughts of returning to this underground cavern to take a second look after seeking treatment for Qiao Xueying.

After all, this was the mausoleum of the empress of the Qin Dynasty; there were bound to be countless treasures in here! The fact that the Heiress’ Ball of Delights worked earlier on was more than enough to show that there was treasure in here that was worth at least several hundred thousand taels of silver.

Putting all these aside, the weapons and helmets the zombie soldiers had been equipped with were already of a higher quality than those sold by the Chu clan, and the Chu clan’s weapons were well-known throughout the Great Zhou Dynasty for their quality.

Damn it! Am I going to lose such a huge fortune just like that? Argh! Forget it. I should be satisfied with having unsealed ‘little Zu An’, obtaining the Tai’e Sword, and learning the upper half of the Primordial Origin Sutra. At the very least, all of my efforts and sacrifices weren’t in vain.

Besides, the greatest treasure in this underground palace is probably Mi Li. Not only is she knowledgeable about everything, but she has an amazing body to match her wisdom… 

As soon as these thoughts surfaced in his mind, Zu An felt a twinge of guilt. He subconsciously glanced at the Tai’e Sword, and was relieved to see that it wasn’t reacting in any way. It seemed Mi Li was truly in deep hibernation at the moment.

I wonder if she’s really able to read my thoughts… 

Zu An was rather amazed at his ability to think about all sorts of useless stuff, even with the cavern collapsing all around him.

In any case, with Chu Chuyan leading the way, the three of them soon saw a glimmer of light in front of them. With a final, concerted dash, they finally managed to escape through the mouth of the cavern.

It was a known rule that, whenever a cavern started collapsing, the protagonist and his team was only allowed to make it out in the nick of time. True to this tenet, barely a few seconds after they ran out, a deafening rumble sounded behind them, and the underground cavern collapsed entirely. Even the massive stone gates at the entrance were unable to withstand the pressure, and were destroyed as well.

A cloud of dust rose into the air, forming a mushroom cloud in the sky.

The impact caused the ground to tremble, undulating up and down. On top of that, some sort of shockwave seemed to be swiftly rippling outward in their direction.

“Be careful!” 

Chu Chuyan rushed forward and grabbed Zu An before fleeing toward the distant forest. She was already nearing the seventh rank, and she was naturally able to move far quicker than Zu An.

The sudden intimate contact caught Zu An off-guard. He could smell her fragrance and feel the softness of her body. 

Wow… To be holding a beautiful woman in my arms while being held in the arms of my wife; is this what the pinnacle of harem life looks like? I wonder how many men in the world are as blessed as I am!

Perhaps Chu Chuyan had sensed that Zu An was intentionally leaning as close as he could to her, for as soon as they reached the relative safety of the forest, Chu Chuyan tossed him to the side, punctuating her action with an angry snort.

Zu An was left speechless. Is it that big of a deal for me to snuggle up to you? I mean, I was even inside you earlier!

However, his attention was soon drawn to the cloud of dust in the distance. He was once again impressed by the awesome power of nature, which could cause such a massive hill to collapse in a matter of moments.

Chu Chuyan tilted her head to the side before murmuring, “There are people here. Quite a few of them.”

“Did you say that a lot of people are heading our way?” Zu An instinctively searched the area for a place to hide. “Quick, let’s find somewhere to hide and observe the situation first.”

“Hide?” Chu Chuyan’s voice carried a hint of pride. “My cultivation has been restored. Why should I hide?”